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. .. Xul Solar .. .
By: Kristy Im

Xul Solar was born in San Fernando, Argentina in 1887. He is famous mainly for his watercolor painting, which he uses bright, contrasting colors. Xul Solar's style of using geometric shapes and symbols, such as ladders, columns, crosses, and angels shows his interest in the mathematical and religious world. He combines those two aspects to create a realm of his own in his paintings. One of his watercolor paintings is titled "Yoguis", painted during the 1940's. The theme of this painting is "the messenger of fantastic things". In the center of the painting, there is an angel being praised by the people who are climbing the ladders to reach the top. The angel, who is the messenger, came to the people to deliver the good news. Through his use of bright colors and the transparencies of the objects, Xul Solar is speaking to us of a new kind or world he is dreaming of.       This painting was appealing to me because of the bright colors. The sky blue, and bright yellow colors brought out a feeling of hope and peace. Another aspect of this painting that was appealing to me was its simplicity. The shapes used in this painting are not abstract, it is purely simple geometric shapes. My interpretation of the painting is that the angel has come to tell the people about religion. It is a message to them to come into the world of religion and believe in that certain religion, which I believe to be Christianity because of the cross symbol. To improve this painting, I would make the face expressions of the people visible, so we can see if the people are joyous that the angel has come or terrified. I think that if you are able to see the expressions of the faces, it would add to the tone of the painting.